


sparks fly

by 99izm



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Festivals, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 15:18:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12235491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/99izm/pseuds/99izm
Summary: The Busan Sea Festival is this weekend and there’s onlyoneperson who Park Jihoon wants to go with.





	sparks fly

**Author's Note:**

> The Busan Sea Festival is real, but other aspects of the festival is taken from all my weeb knowledge. Also, thanks to Henli for the inspiration!
> 
> Thank you to [leeminhyoongi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/leeminhyoongi/pseuds/leeminhyoongi) for helping me look through, as always. ♡

The Busan Sea Festival has been the talk of the school for the past few weeks.

High school means that people are falling in love with each other left, right, and center, and festivals like the Busan Sea Festival are the easiest means for one to ask their crushes out. Jihoon hated this, because it meant that his “third level, most corner staircase” spot would be taken away by some people who wanted to ask their crush out for the festival, nervously sputtering something along the lines of: “I-If you are free on Saturday, p-please go out with me to the Busan Sea Festival!”

He likes _ his _ staircase to be empty, thank you very much!

Jihoon is popular, and he  _ knows  _ it. He is the vice president of the Dance Club, although sometimes, it did feel like he was more of a mascot since he was more recognised for his looks rather than his skills. The way people couldn’t see past his visuals to look at the amount of hard work that he actually put into polishing his skills was frustrating, but Jihoon knew that it wasn’t something that he could fix. After all, looks aren’t something that you can easily ignore. 

It _is_ nice to be known around school, but there were times that Jihoon wished that he wasn’t as popular, wouldn’t be called out by random people to _his_ staircase like how he had been called out today:

“Jihoon-oppa, would you like to goto the Busan Sea Festival with me?” 

If Jihoon were to be honest, he didn’t even know the name of the girl who asked him to meet him at the staircase. He just didn’t know how to say  _ no  _ to people, and he thought that perhaps, it would be polite for him to actually allow the girl to say her piece, even though he’s only going to reject her in the end anyway.

“Sorry,” Jihoon replies, giving a small bow to the girl. He hopes that the way his brows are furrowed together creates the illusion that he’s genuinely sorry. “I’m already attending the festival with someone else.”

The girl looks crushed, as if the sky had fallen down on her. Jihoon honestly doesn’t know why people react like that when they’re rejected by someone they don’t even know. “But oppa‒” she continues. “‒ We all know that you’ve been rejecting  _ everyone  _ who asked you out.”

Jihoon sighs. He really hates this‒ the way people couldn’t see his hints, couldn’t see past his attempts at being subtle about rejecting them and the way he’s been trying to express his disinterest in attending the festival. Perhaps, he should have been honest from the start, and maybe, this would have prevented so many people from thinking that they had a chance, that Jihoon  _ wanted  _ to go to the festival  _ and  _ was looking for someone to go with.

“Honestly,” Jihoon thinks,  _ yeah, I should just be honest.  _ “I just don’t want to go to the festival. I appreciate it, I really appreciate your courage to ask me out, but please don’t force me to do something that I don’t want to do.”

He hopes that the message that he sent out is  _ clear _ and prays that the girl would spread the Good News: that Jihoon doesn’t want to go to the festival so people should  _ stop  _ asking him out.

“Now, if you’d excuse me,” Jihoon says, giving a polite bow again. He doesn’t wait for a response before walking out of the staircase area, and closes the door behind him. 

 

\--

 

Dance practice is three times a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Jihoon’s lucky that today is a Thursday, because this means that he gets to complain and whine about his situation to the rest of the dance crew, since his closest friends are also a part of the team. He’s early for practice (which isn’t often, honestly) and he knows that Jinyoung is  _ always  _ early, because it means that he gets to spend more time with his boyfriend, Daehwi. 

Of course, Jihoon  _ is  _ right because when he reaches the dance studio, Jinyoung is already inside, doing his stretches and warm-ups with Daehwi. Jihoon heads straight for the two, and pulls Jinyoung and Daehwi away from the center of the room to a corner.

“Guys,  _ listen _ ,” Jihoon starts, even before Jinyoung and Daehwi can say anything about the way Jihoon had (rudely) pulled them away from their warm-ups. (Anyway, if they did want to say anything, Jihoon would have shushed them with a “Listen to your  _ hyung!” _ ) “I have a problem.”

“Let me guess,” Daehwi puts a finger up in the air in front of him. “You’re annoyed at your fangirls‒”

“‒who want to ask you out for the Busan Sea Festival this weekend,” Jinyoung continues. Jihoon rolls his eyes at how the both of them are  _ so  _ in-sync, the way they finish each other's sentences in a way that is absolutely  _ revoltingly _ cheesy. 

“Yes,” Jihoon admits. “The girl who asked me today said that everyone knows that I’m not attending the festival with anyone, so I can’t use that excuse anymore.”

Jinyoung snorts, “I told you it was a terrible excuse from the start.”

Jihoon ignores Jinyoung. “Tell me, friends.  _ Tell me  _ what I should do.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Daehwi stares at Jihoon like as if he’s a baby, who has never spoken a single word and is incomprehensible of the world’s complexities. “You should just legitimately ask someone out and your problem would be solved.”

Jihoon wishes that it would be so simple. It’s high school, where all the actions that you take are judged by everyone else. Asking someone out for the Busan Sea Festival wasn’t so black and white, when it is an event that everyone has already assumed it as “if any two people are going for the festival together, they are  _ dating _ ” _.  _ He didn’t want to ask  _ just  _ anyone out for the festival, when he knew that when school resumes next week, he would be drowning in a sea of: “When did you start dating?!”

“You know,” Jihoon looks down at the floor, suddenly feeling vulnerable from the undecipherable emotions that were growing within him. “It’s not that easy.”

_ Of course  _ it’s not that easy. Jihoon knows that he’s just trying to make excuses for himself, the whole “I don’t want to ask anyone out, because I don’t want to be attacked by the rest of the student population” is the dumbest excuse. The biggest reason is that Jihoon actually does have someone he  _ likes  _ and he doesn’t want anyone else to be with him at the festival, except for  _ Park Woojin _ .

It’s almost like Jinyoung’s a mind-reader, an empath because he reaches out to give soft pats on Jihoon’s shoulders. “I know, hyung. I know that there’s only one person that you want to ask out, and you can’t.”

Daehwi looks almost sorry for having suggested that idea, and Jihoon can’t bear to blame him for that. He knows that Daehwi’s trying to offer genuine advice, that he wants to help Jihoon; but Daehwi can’t help when Jihoon himself can’t do anything about his damn feelings. 

It’s frustrating how he has had this crush on Park Woojin, the very President of the Dance Club for the  _ longest  _ time‒ ever since the day that they had sat next to each other during the entrance ceremony. He knows that Park Woojin is emotionally constipated, unable of realising how much Jihoon actually looks at him like he’s the only one who’s capable of bringing out the best and the worst in him. Woojin probably just treats him like a good friend, who’s born in the same year as him, and indulges him with his crazy antics (when they burst into that  _ strange  _ dance together).

Jihoon sighs. It’s purposefully loud, that he wants to reiterate how this whole Busan Sea Festival problem is making his life  _ so  _ miserable. He brings his hands to cover his cheeks, squishing them together and complains, “I wish there was  _ anyone  _ who would go with me for that stupid thing.”

Of course, Park Woojin decides that this would be the best time to enter, because Jihoon suddenly hears a voice next to him: “What stupid thing?”

Jihoon pretends that he wasn’t taken aback, but from the way Jinyoung and Daehwi both try to stifle their laughter at how Jihoon had immediately stiffened, he doesn’t even know why he actually tried to pretend. When Jihoon doesn’t reply, Woojin nudges his side again. This time, he has settled to sit next to Jihoon, and Jihoon is  _ very  _ mindful of the distance between them, that a single shift could just make his knees touch Woojin’s own.

“Jihoon-hyung’s trying to find someone to go for the Busan Sea Festival together with him,” Daehwi supplies helpfully. 

Woojin turns to look at Jihoon’s direction, a single eyebrow raised. “But I thought that you didn’t want to go to it.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon laughs, and it’s such a forced laugh that Jihoon cringes internally. “I didn’t want to, but I’m just  _ so  _ sick of people constantly trying to invite me for the festival.”

“Oh,” Woojin’s face scrunches up. Jihoon hates it whenever Woojin does that, because he can’t predict what Woojin is thinking. He likes to look into Woojin’s eyes, where his thoughts are transparent and clear; and Jihoon can see the way his eyes light up whenever he sees something that he likes, the way his eyes burn with passion when he’s dancing. He doesn’t like it when Woojin scrunches his face, because he can’t see all that. “That’s tough.”

“Woojin-hyung, are you going for the festival though?” Jinyoung asks. 

Jihoon has a  _ bad  _ feeling, he thinks that he knows where this is going. He thinks that things are leading to a path where Jinyoung and Daehwi eventually hit Woojin with a “Why don’t you head for the festival with Jihoon-hyung?” But he prays that things  _ do not  _ go as planned, because he can’t wrap his mind around the idea of the two of them going for the festival together, going for a date together. Not when his feelings for Woojin are burning within him, and he thinks that Woojin doesn’t feel the same way. 

“Nope,” Woojin shakes his head. “I don’t have plans to. Why?”

Jihoon can see the way the cogs and gears are aligning in Daehwi and Jinyoung’s heads, and he isn’t wrong‒ because his  _ bad feeling  _ does come true. “Then, why don’t you head to the festival with Jihoon-hyung?”

“But I thought that Jihoon doesn’t want to go to it,” Woojin eyes widening slightly while looking at Jihoon.

Jihoon shakes his head, almost too quickly and almost too defensively. “No, no! Not really. I just didn’t have anyone to go with.”

“Oh,” Woojin stares at Jihoon. Jihoon feels like he’s being studied, that Woojin is trying to pick out any trace of physical revulsion at the thought of having to go with Woojin to the festival. He hopes that Wojin doesn’t interpret the way he’d stiffened up as that, because he’s just afraid, afraid that Woojin would find out about his feelings, about the way that he looks at Woojin more than just a friend. “Do you want to go to the festival together?”

“O-Of course! Yeah, sure,” Jihoon tries not to sound too enthusiastic, tries to stop the smile from creeping up onto his face. “It’d be nice.”

Jinyoung beams at the both of them and gives a pat on both their heads when he stands up. “That’s great, isn’t it?”

“Now, Jihoon-hyung’s problem has been solved,” Daehwi grins at them. “Now, we can go back to practice.”

Jihoon doesn’t miss the way the both of them shoot small smirks at him. He thinks that the both of them are  _ terrible  _ juniors who only like to watch him suffer. He swears that he’s going to kill them after, but when Woojin smiles softly at him and tells him to start warming up, the thought washes away.

He knows that his heart is going to be working on an overdrive‒ he’s going to have to deal with the jittery thoughts of going on a date with Woojin, and his heart would beat quickly and softly against his ribcage when they are actually on the date together so Jihoon puts in a teeny more effort in practice today, because he thinks that his heart needs the exercise.

 

\--

 

It  _ does  _ work.

News spread like wildfire (Jihoon thinks that a part of it is probably because Daehwi knows literally everyone in the school, and  _ would  _ tell everyone), and it does stop the flurry of girls who try to ask him out for the festival on Saturday.

What doesn’t change is the way his heart is beating so incessantly, a constant reminder of how he’s going to be a nervous trainwreck when he’s on the date with Woojin on Saturday. Jihoon hates the way his brain conveniently labels their outing on Saturday as a ‘date’. He doesn’t even know if Woojin does take that way. He wishes that these outings didn’t have labels, that they were just “meeting up to have a good time” but his feelings get in the way before he can start to pen down the name to the label.

 

> **Jihoon-hyung is lame (3)**
> 
> **Jihoon:** im so nervous for saturday  
>  **Daehwi:** hyung, if you weren’t nervous, you wouldn’t have taken so long to ask woojin-hyung out  
>  **Jinyoung:** ^  
>  **Jihoon:** what DO I DO WHAT I DO I WEAR ON SATURDAY I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO  
>  **Jihoon:** i don’t even know if its considered a date  
>  **Jihoon:** D A T E   
>  **Jinyoung:** jihoon-hyung, you’re cute af so it doesn’t matter cuz you’re gonna’ charm woojin-hyung anyway  
>  **Daehwi:** and you don’t have to plan anytime, just go with the flow!!  
>  **Daehwi:** don’t think too much into it‒ just enjoy.  
>  **Jinyoung:** and don’t think about your lameass fangirls too  
>  **Jihoon:** thx guys  
>  **Jihoon:** u kno what  
>  **Jihoon:** i’m super thankful that we dont have prac on fri  
>  **Jihoon:** i dont know HOW IM GONNA FACE HIM
> 
>  

Jihoon’s thankful that they don’t have practice on Friday, because it means that he doesn’t have to face Woojin in person. They aren’t in the same class, and they don’t share any classes together so it’s easy to avoid Woojin by taking different staircases and eating lunch at  _ his  _ staircase instead. When the day ends, Jihoon wishes that he could give himself a pat on the back, from the way that he  _ did  _ manage to avoid Woojin entirely on Friday.

But Woojin sends him a text message and it all comes crumbling down:

> **Woojin:** hey jihoon :-) can’t wait to head down for the festival w/ you tmrw!  
>  **Woojin:** how does 4.30pm at the station sound for you?  
>  **Jihoon:** hey woojin!  
>  **Jihoon:** sounds great!! i’m super psyched too!  
>  **Jihoon:** see you tmrw!! :’)  
>  **Woojin:** see you :-)  
>  **Woojin:** sleep well, too!

 

\--

 

When Jihoon reaches the train station, he feels like he’s a nervous trainwreck‒ feet tapping incessantly against the ground, and he constantly looks up and down from his phone, wondering when would Woojin appear. He was early, earlier than their scheduled 4.30pm but he didn’t want to be late, which caused him to reach like, 15 minutes earlier. Perhaps, he should have texted Woojin that he was early, that he was going to walk around the station, but he didn’t want to appear to be pushy, overly excited for their outing.

The station is filled with people whom he has seen before, many of his schoolmates and classmates are attending the festival. They are either couples, or here in a group‒ and a part of Jihoon is frustrated, because he still doesn’t know if today can be considered as a  _ date.  _ He wants it so much, wants to be special to Park Woojin but he thinks, Woojin probably doesn’t see him in that manner.

“Hey!” He feels a tap on his shoulder, and when Jihoon turns back, Woojin is smiling at him‒ and that snaggletooth of his is showing, and Jihoon feels his heart grow bigger. “Did you wait long?”

“Nope, I just got here,” Jihoon lies. 

“Oh, that’s a relief,” Woojin lets out a sigh of relief. He nudges to the direction of the festival, “Shall we go?”

“Yeah, of course!”

Jihoon thinks that it’s  _ so  _ obvious, from the way he walks two steps slower than Woojin. He’s staring at Woojin’s hands, and his mind is ridden with thoughts of how badly he wants to hold them. He just wants to lace his fingers together with Woojin’s, feel the warmth from beneath his skin. He just wants to hold Woojin’s hand, to feel like there isn’t anything in the world that can’t be conquered. 

He takes a final glance at Woojin’s hand, and clenched his own fists, because he knows‒ that those aren’t his hands to hold.

 

\--

 

Loud music and bright lights greet the both of them when they arrive at the general location of the Busan Sea Festival. It’s vibrant, crackling with the flavour of youth and happiness, and while it does make Jihoon’s heart beat faster, he finds himself cringing at the sheer crowd. There are so many people, so much that it makes him uncomfortable. When he turns over to look at Woojin, he thinks that Woojin shares the same thought as him, from the way his mouth had shifted to form an “o”.

“It’s really crowded, huh,” Jihoon comments.

Woojin nods. “I know it’s a festival, but I still didn’t expect… such a crowd.”

“Same,” Jihoon nods in agreement. Perhaps, the crowd wasn’t that bad. Perhaps, he could twist it in his favour‒ use the excuse of the crowd to grab Woojin’s hand, to interlock their fingers together so they “don’t separate.” He cringes at the very thought of that, and Jihoon thinks, he should really stop watching the same dramas that his mother has been watching recently. “Well, shall we?”

There are many boothslined up for the festival: food booths that are filled with all the good snacks and street food that Jihoon loves, game booths where Jihoon starts to pity all the boyfriends who have to win prizes for their girlfriends, drink booths and many more. The booths boast fun and entertainment, and Jihoon  _ does  _ forget about the crowd to relish in the atmosphere instead. 

They stop at a shooting booth, because Woojin pauses for a moment‒ like as if something had caught his eye. “Hey, let’s play this.”

“Sure,” Jihoon says at the same time Woojin drops some coins in front of the booth master.

It’s the typical shooting game that you’ve seen in almost any festival. There are many targets that are laid in front of you, and if you manage to take down the largest target, you get to take home any prize that you want. Jihoon doesn’t know what Woojin wants, but he thinks that the best prize that he could ever get would be able entitled to see Woojin’s concentrating face as he aims for the biggest target. 

There’s a flurry of cheers that erupt soon after, as Woojin does take down a medium-sized target, and the booth master grins brightly at him while passing him a large rabbit plushie. “Congratulations!”

Woojin grins in pride, a single hand scratching the back of his hand while he extends the other to take the rabbit plush. He doesn’t look at Jihoon, but he hands it over and says, “It’s for you.”

_ Now  _ that was absolutely something that Jihoon hadn’t been expecting. It’s one thing to play a game, but it’s another thing to play a game to win something for someone else. If Jihoon didn’t know better, he would have thought that Woojin was flirting with him, was trying to win his heart over. Jihoon doesn’t want to get his hopes up, doesn’t want to imagine the possibility of a future that doesn’t exist. But he can’t stop the smile from creeping onto his face, takes the rabbit and says softly, “Thank you, Woojinnie.”

Jihoon thinks, maybe, he should also win something for Woojin and when he spies a single sparrow soft-toy, he thinks that it reminds him of Woojin and so he passes the rabbit soft toy over to Woojin. “Hold onto this for me!”

He drops some coins in front of the booth master, who gives them a soft look like as if he was watching an adorable couple win toys for each other‒ toys that would remind each other of themselves. Jihoon has always been good at games (he didn’t spend hours in front of a computer for no reason!), and when he squints his eye into the viewfinder, it’s easy. It’s easy for him to take down the target in front of him, and the booth master cheers when he hits it down, and hands that sparrow soft toy over to Jihoon.

“For you too,” Jihoon can’t help but avert his gaze from Woojin as he passes the toy over. He can’t imagine the look at Woojin’s face, can’t bring himself to meet his eyes. 

“Thank you,” he hears Woojin reply and it’s only then does he look at Woojin and sees the way his cheeks are flushed. 

Jihoon feels his own cheeks heat up, and he tries to blame it on the summer heat.

 

\--

 

They manage to find a quiet corner in the grounds of the festival area, and they set the two plushies down as Woojin heads to get some food for the two of them. Jihoon’s assigned guard duty instead. It’s a spot that’s away from the main crowd, and the noise from the crowd become like white noise that Jihoon can easily tune out. From their corner, he can make out the Busan sea, the crashing waves and the salty sea breeze that calms him down.

It’s strange, how quiet his mind is. He was expecting that his thoughts would be ringing loudly in his head, haunting him with his feelings for Woojin, taunting him that he should do something about it and not just swallow the words that he wanted to say. 

“I’m not sure what you liked,” he hears footsteps and Woojin’s voice from behind him. “So I got a bit of everything.”

“Oh,” Jihoon says. “You didn’t have to.”

Woojin shrugs, but when Jihoon opens up the bags that Woojin had brought along with him, he finds that they are filled with all his favourite things. Octopus balls drenched with extra sauce and extra bonito flakes, skewered  _ ddeok _ , tornado potatoes, deep fried squid, grape flavoured soda‒ and when he looks at Woojin, Woojin’s face is red, like as if he had been exposed for a dirty dark secret that he had been hiding all this while.

Jihoon doesn’t know what to take of it. Was it on purpose that Woojin had gotten  _ all  _ of his favourite food? Or was it a mere coincidence that he had picked them out? He doesn’t know what to think, but he feels‒ he feels the way his heart warms up in happiness, in a sense that he’s just touched that there’s someone by his side that knows him, that wants him to be happy. 

“Thank you,” Jihoon whispers, and he opens the box of octopus balls to start eating them. 

“No problem at all,” Woojin replies and he takes his own skewer of  _ ddeok  _ to start eating.

It’s silent, quiet between them but it’s a comfortable silent that they both indulge themselves in. It’s a nice moment, and Jihoon doesn’t know what to say or what to do‒ but then again, he probably doesn’t have to do anything.

“Hey,” Woojin says, and his face is suddenly too close to Jihoon that Jihoon thinks that he could almost feel Woojin’s breath on his face, and how he can see his own reflection in Woojin’s eyes. “You’ve got something‒” Woojin leans in, fingers wiping across the side of his mouth. “‒here.”

It’s a strangely intimate moment, and Jihoon can hear nothing but the vague sounds of the festival crowd, and the sound of his own beating heart.

It’s the first time that they are here in the festival together. Jihoon knows that he has pretty eyes, but he thinks that Woojin’s own eyes are equally charming as well. It’s like as if all the festival lights are being reflected‒  they are  _ shining  _ in Woojin’s eyes, and he thinks that he really wants to come back with Woojin to the festival again, and again‒ year after year, with the same boy because it can  _ only _ be Woojin. 

He only wants to make memories at the festival if Woojin’s going to be there.

Woojin’s finger is still resting on the side of his lip, and while Jihoon wonders,  _ what is Woojin doing,  _ there is also a part of him that doesn’t want him to move, wants him to always be by his side. The intimacy is suffocating. It feels like Woojin wants them to be more than just friends, but if he doesn’t say anything, Jihoon wouldn’t know anything.

The moment is broken when they hear loud crackling noises, the sounds of the fireworks being let off as they burn bright in the night sky. They turn in unison to the sky, watching in amazement at the sheer vibrant beauty of yellow and reds and greens. Fireworks are fleeting, but they are always beautiful and Jihoon thinks, that they are just like life itself.

Perhaps, it’s time for him to stop hesitating.

Jihoon’s afraid, so much fear that resonates within him from the way his heart beats, but when he sneaks a peek at Woojin from his side, he think that he really  _ wants  _ it. Life’s too short for all these hesitations, and nothing is going to change if no one says anything. It’s terrifying, like he’s walking on thin ice but he wants to grab onto the saving rope that would pull him to safety. 

He thinks of how Jinyoung and Daehwi have been with him every step of the way, thinks of how Woojin had won the rabbit plush for him earlier, thinks of how much he  _ likes  _ Park Woojin‒ and he manages to muster the courage that he never wielded before. 

He takes a deep breath, and he says, “Park Woojin… I really like you.”

Woojin turns to look at him, a look of confusion painted on his face as he makes the motion that he didn’t hear what Jihoon had just said, and is beckoning him to repeat it. The fireworks are loud and ringing in his head, and Jihoon thinks that the moment of intimacy came crashing in an instant.

Jihoon feels the frustration, fists clenched and he knows that it’s not wrong that Woojin had reacted in that manner‒ the fireworks were loud, and he definitely couldn’t have heard what he wanted to say. But still, it was only then that he managed to muster up all his courage, and yet, it faded away to nothingness. He feels the flush on his face, and he undoes his clenched fist to nestle his fingers on Woojin’s shirt‒ pulls him in, to bring him into a single kiss.

He doesn’t expect anything, doesn’t expect Woojin to do anything except accept it, but his expectations are overturned when he feels Woojin curl an arm over his waist, pull him closer and  _ closer _ , and opens his mouth to deepen the kiss. There’s so much affection, and emotions that he feels; and he tries to ignore the way his heart surges in happiness, but he can’t because Park Woojin  _ is kissing him back _ . 

The sound of the fireworks fade into background noise, and the only thing that he can hear is his own thoughts:  _ Park Woojin is kissing me back, _ and the sound of his heartbeat. He feels more than he hears‒ the feeling of Woojin’s lips on him‒ soft but sweet. Intimate. 

When they part, they are both panting from the lack of air, but Woojin’s arm is still around his, and he doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting go. The fireworks have dissipated by now, and there is only the lingering scent of smoke that hangs in the air. They both don’t speak‒ Jihoon can’t find the  _ right  _ words, and he thinks, Woojin can’t find them too.

It’s awkward: the fact that they kissed before either of them had  _ actually  _ confessed, and Jihoon feels the embarrassment and the awkwardness reach him now. He’s flustered, and he thinks that his cheeks are now the brightest shade of red, and he splutters, “I really like you, Woojinnie.”

Woojin chuckles, like as if Jihoon had said something really obvious and stupid. Like as if Woojin didn’t like him back from the way he had kissed him back. “I really like you too, Park Jihoon.”

Jihoon senses the way Woojin’s arm releases its grip from his waist, and his hand slides down to reach out for Jihoon’s own hand, smoothly interlocking their fingers together. The spaces of their fingers fit perfectly, and it’s the very hand-holding that Jihoon to do all day. He finds his cheeks getting even hotter at Woojin’s confession, and his heart is a nervous wreck‒ he doesn’t know what to do, or what to say, or  _ what are they now?  _

He must have vocalised his thoughts aloud, because the next thing he knows, Woojin pulls their interlocked hands up, and presses a deep kiss onto his knuckles. He looks up at Jihoon from that position, and there’s so much adoration in his gaze as he says, “We’re boyfriends now,  _ of course _ . Unless you’re telling me that the kiss and confession just now is  _ fake. _ ”

“No, no,  _ no _ , no way!”

Woojin laughs and he uses his free hand to stroke the corner of Jihoon’s face. It’s so soft and gentle, so unlike the passionate Park Woojin he knows, so unlike the emotionally constipated Park Woojin he thought he knew. 

“I  _ really _ like you too, Jihoonnie.”

 

\--

 

On Monday, Jihoon doesn’t walk to school alone. 

His staircase isn’t solely his anymore, either.

Park Woojin is the only other person who’s allowed to occupy _his_ ‒ _their_ ‒ staircase, and Jihoon doesn’t even mind if this means that they get to kiss and touch and kiss in private, away from the rest of their classmates and schoolmates. 

They hold hands when they walk to school together, and everyone giggles when they see Woojin waiting for Jihoon outside their classroom so that they can go on after-school dates together. It’s nice, because Jihoon finally doesn’t have to face his fangirls anymore. He doesn’t have to reject them with the heavy feeling of guilt swallowing him, because they all know that Park Jihoon is Park Woojin’s, and Park Woojin is Park Jihoon’s.

Dance practice is a  _ tad  _ awkward now, because Jinyoung and Daehwi constantly complain about how they’re always shooting “lovey dovey glances” at each other, and as much as Jihoon tries to vehemently deny it, he does feel Woojin’s gaze on him (especially when he’s doing some body waves. Now, he knows what Woojin  _ likes. _ ) 

“Jihoon-hyung, you have to thank us,” Jinyoung suddenly says when there’s a break and Jihoon’s trying to pull Woojin off him.

“What, why,” Jihoon raises a single eyebrow.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Daehwi gives Jihoon a look before he sighs in frustration. Jihoon turns to look at Woojin, who just shrugs his shoulder‒ but he knows  _ better  _ now, he knows how to read Woojin now so he pokes him at the side. Upon seeing that Woojin isn’t going to say anything, Daehwi continues, “Woojin-hyung would never have done anything without us.”

Jinyoung nods his head, albeit dramatically and he says, “You wouldn’t be here today if we didn’t ask you to ask Woojin out on Saturday.”

It is  _ true, _ Jihoon thinks. If it weren’t for the whole Busan Sea Festival that he wasn’t looking forward to, they wouldn’t be here‒ sitting at the floor of the dance practice, Woojin pulling him into his lap and playing with the tips of his hair. He breathes out a “Thank you” and nudges Woojin to do so, and he does.

Jinyoung and Daehwi both offer them bright smiles and Jihoon thinks, that he’s lucky.

He’s lucky to have Jinyoung and Daehwi who are the best friends that he could ever have, and he’s also lucky to have Woojin by his side, someone who loves him for who he is.

He thinks, perhaps, they should  _ all  _ go for the Busan Sea Festival together next year.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure when I'll be able to write longfic again, as I'm getting busier with school. I will still be writing/ dying over Wanna One, so hit me up on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/99izm)!


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